Monisha Rajesh returns, Train Travel Special

5 snips

Jul 29, 2025

Monisha Rajesh, an acclaimed author and travel writer, returns to share her love for train travel and her new book, Moonlight Express. She paints vivid pictures of her journeys on sleeper trains across breathtaking landscapes, from Norway's serene nights to Transylvania's enchanting sunrises. Monisha explores the unique charm of train travel, highlighting the sense of community and romance it fosters. Listeners will be drawn into her experiences celebrating family milestones aboard luxurious trains and reflecting on the magic of watching the world roll by.

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ADVICE

Start With Norway Night Trains

Try Norway as your first sleeper-train experience because its trains are quiet, punctual and have comfortable beds.
Use the dining car to meet people and enjoy local food; it makes the night journey social and cosy.

ADVICE

Use The Dining Car Intentionally

Seek trains with dining cars and spend time there to meet fellow passengers and sample regional dishes.
Treat the dining car as a rolling living room to shorten long journeys and boost interaction.

INSIGHT

Polar Light Changes Perception Of Night

Midnight sun and polar nights reshape how you perceive time on trains and create surreal light for late-night viewing.
Those unique light conditions can make a night journey feel like a continuous cinematic experience.

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Today I’m so pleased to welcome back someone who you all loved the first time around on the podcast - the brilliant author and travel writer, Monisha Rajesh. Her passion for trains, and for the way rail travel slows you down and opens you up to new worlds, was just infectious. And I’m so excited to say that she’s back with a gorgeous new book called Moonlight Express, which takes us deep into the magical world of sleeper trains. In this new adventure, Monisha journeys across Europe, the Americas and beyond, trading airports for railway platforms and following moonlit tracks through some of the most cinematic landscapes on Earth, which we have the pleasure of chatting about today.

From the soft snow and candlelit calm of the Norwegian night trains to the fairy-tale villages of Transylvania, glimpsed at sunrise through the window of a creaky couchette on the Dacia Express. Or to the pastel-painted streets of Savannah, Georgia, in the US, reached on Amtrak’s Silver Meteor. She takes us high into the Andes too, aboard the luxurious Belmond Andean Explorer from Cusco to Arequipa, where the train carves through deserts and towering peaks, so close to everyday life you feel like you could touch it. And back in Britain, she celebrates her mum’s 70th aboard the Royal Scotsman, sipping whisky in the observation car as the Highlands go past.

She reminds us what makes train travel so unique: the romance, the community, and the chance to simply sit by the window and watch the world roll by.

Destination Recap:

Oslo to trondheim, Trondheim to Buda, Norway
Transylvania, Romania
Finland
Peru - Belmond Andean Explorer - Cusco to Arequipa
Belmond Royal Scotsman
Caledonian Sleeper Train, London to Edinburgh
Cornish Riviera train
Silver Meteor - Orlando, Florida to Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia, USA

Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train by Monisha Rajesh is published by Bloomsbury (28 August).

With thanks to Airbnb for their support of today's episode.

Thanks so much for listening today. If you want to be the first to find out who is joining me on next week’s episode come and follow me on Instagram I’m @hollyrubenstein, and you’ll also find me on TikTok - I’d love to hear from you. And if you can't wait until then, remember there’s the first 14 seasons to catch up on, that's over 155 episodes to keep you busy.

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